I enjoy the writings of the poet, David Whyte. I wanted to add words to this photograph I made ... found, here in Rarotonga.
An extract from his poem, Courage, seemed perfect.
People tell me I'm brave, that I have courage but I have this idea that it's just as brave to choose to stay, sometimes.
The book released here in Norway in December is An Elastic State of Mind, which is an imaginative autobiography in formal and free verse. Three years of intense work with form, two years of historical research, and another two years with the translator: this baby was a long time in coming. The review that came out last week was positive, with the caveat that it was demanding of the reader.
The book I am editing now, which will be finished in March, is Ewe in the Rain. It's more of a seduction than a demand.
Ren Powell, an extract from her post over on Mad Orphan Lit.
Fascinating reading! Take a peek.
The photograph ... Boccadasse, Italy.
I love poets, and their poetry. The stories they tell, oftentimes with the least possible words ... the deadwood all cut away.
This poem ...
I have loved this man's poetry and performance and way of life since forever.
He is always, almost defiantly, Himself. And that's no mean feat in New Zealand, specially through those years he comes from ...
Regret none of it, not one
of the wasted days you wanted to know nothing,
when the lights from the carnival rides
were the only stars you believed in, loving them
for their uselessness, not wanting to be saved.
You’ve traveled this far on the back of every mistake,
ridden in dark-eyed and morose but calm as a house
after the TV set has been pitched out the upstairs
window. Harmless as a broken ax. Emptied
of expectation. Relax. Don’t bother remembering any of it.
Let’s stop here, under the lit sign
on the corner, and watch all the people walk by.
Dorianne Laux, an extract from her poem, Antilamentation .
It has been a truly insane week ... involving 5 intense hours with a camera crew filming me, a corporate photo-shoot and life.
Blog post to follow soon.